Anyone still hanging onto an old Hotmail address should prepare to be shifted over to Microsoft’s new Outlook.com offering.
The web-based email service has left preview and, Microsoft says, during this beta period some 60 million users signed up for Outlook.com. This number is set to increase hugely over the next few months as Microsoft will be transferring Hotmail users to the new user interface.
Microsoft is punting Outlook.com’s SkyDrive and social networking integration at the moment, which will allow users to get Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn updates through the email service’s interface. The area reserved for advertising will be displaying these updates, a clever move on Microsoft’s part as it means that advertisers will be getting a little more exposure to Outlook.com users in the process.
Source: Ars Technica